Headlight and spotlight device fortoy vehicles



June 11, 1935. A. c. KORTE 2,004,791

HEADLIGHT AND SPOTLIGHT DEVICE FOR TOY VEHICLES Filed April 22, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l ALFRED C. KORTE INVENTOR ATTORNEY June 11, 1935. Q KQRTE 2,004,791

HEADLIGHT AND SPOTLIGHT DEVICE FOR TOY VEHICLES Filed April 22, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

FIG.5

ALFRED C. KORTE INVENTOR A TTORNE Y which'mayibe' adjusted to various positions with Patented June ll, 1935 HEADLIGHT AND SPOTLIGHT DEVICE FOR" I TOY VEHICLES 1 a Alfred. C. Korte, Stg lloiris,

M0,, assignor to Metal- I craft Corporation, St'.' Louis, Me a corporation i of Missouri Application. April This invention relates to headlight and spotlight devices for toy vehiclesf It isthe object of the invention'to 'provideatoy vehiclewith.

electricrheadlights and also with a spotlight respect to the vehicle. On' account of. the small size of these vehicles problems are presented due to the limited space available for carrying bat-r teries and also due to theismallsize to which it'is necessary to reduce the 'various'lighting devices. It will also be understood that toys of 'this'nature are subject to abuse and must be of very simple and rugged construction and at the same time very inexpensive. 1

It is an object of this invention to produce,

a generally improved device of the above. described character.

accompanying drawings, referring to which:

-=Figure 1 shows a side elevation of thefront ter illustrationlof others.

Figure 2 is a plan View of. the device shown in Figure 1, parts being broken away and others shown in sections. 1 Figure 3 .is a sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view of theaspote' .along the lines -'4-, 4-' of, Figure 1, looking .in the direction of the light construction taken arrows.

Figure 5 is a detail light and supports lines 5-5 of Figure the arrows.

therefor,- taken along the Figure 6 is'a detail view .of the control switch. Figure '7 is-a detail .view of a simplified form,

of control switch.

The reference'numeral 1 indicates the ;chas--, sis of a toy vehicle, a fire truck in this--instance,-, having a hood 2, a radiator 3, and headlights 4: which are mounted and installed in the manner-i shown in Patent #1,905,931 is'suedjApril 25, 1933, toGeorge R. Ericson'. For the purpose of .under-' standing .my invention, it will be sufiicientuto say that the headlight reflectors Bares formed.

integral with a cross bar 9, which is rigidly. attached to the radiator, butelectrically insulated 1 therefrom. The sourceof current is a battery 6, carried under the hood in an inverted U- shaped housing 1, which is attached to the floor of the chassis by means of the lugs 8. The battery is a dry cell of the usual flash light type and its central terminal contacts with the cross bar 9 through which the current flows'to the filaments of the headlight bulbs through the central terminals ID of the headlight bulbs, and the bracket members ll into'the chassis. The current is turned on or oif by grounding the The invention will be betterunderstood from the following specification and:

I tact 'ofthelugs sectional view of the spot--;

3 looking in the direction of The-member'20'-is"alsofprovided with a'pair of: lugs 24 for, the attachment: of the brack'etmemz-inc base of the batteries to the chassis by means of a switch'li. The switchis provided-with a handle" l3 and eccentriclugs or cam surfaces I4" to contact the basefiof :the'b attery; The switch is mounted "in' opposite: openings-in the side members 'ofthe'" truck, as indicated at 15, or al-v ternatively in the :opposite sides "of the "U- shaped housing. inemberw'l, las indicated in Figure'Lm 1 I have. showntwo formskof switch. In the simpler form shown in':Figure"7 the switch is surrounded by an insulating member 11, 'such", as a piece of rubber tubing, to preventaccidental' contactofthe base of the battery with. the

switch when the' cam is not in contact with the battery.,. 5 .In order to prevent simultaneousoperation of the headlight and spotlight, .which-would'unduly shorten the life of .the'batteries l. preferably surroundthe' insulating member-11 with'a cylink drical' sheetmetal. member; l8 having a cam surface l9 thereon, :andcons'tructthespotlight in v the following mannerz-w. a .A combination. switch and supporting bracket 20 ismade. of. a. strip of sheet metal in the form best shown in Figures ,3'and. 5. This member-lie provided with a protruding eyelet J or trunnion por:

tion as indicated at. l'lffor-v a purpose hereinafter to .be described, and thelmember' 20 is firmlyattached to 'theibattery. housing by'nmeans'of the lugs'22u Insulating paper is 'usedt'o prevent c'on" the members. It will be noted that the rear end 22 "and the battery housing with of the member 20 is'bent downwardly as indicated at .23 to xformsa. contact forthe cam: member- I 9.

ber 25, which is used not only as a supporting the: chassis =andla'lso from'the member' ZO andis providedwith aprotruding eyelet or trunnion 26;

as indicatedrin Figure 4. l The member 25 is carried forward inside the'hood, as indicated at 21,

hood just infront of the bracket lil, terminating" in a perforated contact member 28, which surrounds'the screw threaded base of one ofthe head'- light' bulbs andrnakes electrical contact there with.

and is bent outwardly through an opening in the The construction of the spotlight is-asifollows -A eup shaped sheet metal body-member 3!) providedwith an integral perforated lug 3|, is 55 mounted on oneof thetrunriion's ZI-and 26. A smaller cup-shaped body member 32 is pressed into the cup 3i], but insulated therefrom by insulating paper 33, or any other suitable means.

The member 32 is provided with "a perforated 0 lug 34 to fit on the other trunnion, so that the outer and inner extending flange 38 of the member 30. Insulate ing paper is used between these members to pre-v vent electrical contact.

Thebatteries may be inserted or removed by first loosening the headlight bulbs 4 and then lifting oif the radiator which is held on by hooks 40 and projection 4|. The hooks 40 areformed integral with the radiator to hook over apart of the chassis, and the member 4| is formed" integral with the hood topass through a corresponding opening in the top ofthe radiator.

'In operation, the forward and central terminal of the batteries contacts with the cross bar 9, and the rear or zinc terminal of the batterycon tacts with the .member .l8. By operating the handle l3 thecam I9 contacts-the member 23, closing thecircuit through the=spotlight bulb 36, and members 25, 21, 28, 5 and 9"to the central terminal of the, battery. By operating thehandle} l3 in another direction the cam I9 is first moved out of contact with the member 23. and the cam It is then moved into contact with the zinc base of the battery, it being understood that the radius of the vcam I4 is slightly greater than the. radius of the cylindrical portion otthe member It. When the cam l4 touches thezinc base of the battery, thereby groundingit tothe chassis, the circuit is closed through the members I I, ID, the filament of. I the: bulb, the screw threaded base, and the members 5 and 9 tothe central "terminal of the battery, and lighting the headlights.

If it is desired to operate the headlights and.

spotlight simultaneously, or if' it is desired to omit the spotlight altogether, asv in the Ericson patent above referred to, the 'switch construction shown in Figure 7 may beused. That is to say,

the members and I9 may be omitted-andthe member 20 may be grounded to. the chassis simply the point? contact member being insulated from the. rod

. and having an eccentric portion thereonm toy vehicles, a"

by omitting the insulating paper at where it is held by the lugs 22.

I claim:

, 1.,A spotlight comprising a .pair.-of support-f ing brackets, said brackets being flrmly joined together but electrically insulated from each other,,corresponding-ends of saidbracket members being spread apart and provided with trun-,

nions to receive a spotlight assembly therebetween, a spotlight assembly mounted on said trunnions, said assembly comprising an outer body member pivotally mounted on one of said trunnions, an inner body member pivotally mounted, on the other of said trunnions, said. body members being electrically and having an eccentric portion thereon, the eccentric portion of said contact member beinginsulated from each other. 1

- 2. Aspotlight comprising a pair of supporting brackets, said brackets being firmly joined together but electrically insulated from each other,

members becorresponding ends of said bracket its base is in' ing spread apart and provided with trunnions to receive a spotlight assembly therebetween, a spotlight assembly mounted on said trunnions, said assembly comprising an outer body member pivotally mounted on one of said trunnions, an inner body member pivotally mounted on the other of said trunnions, said outer and inner body mem bersbeing electrically insulated from each other, said inner body member having an opening adapted to receive the screw threaded base of an electric light bulb, an electric light bulb having a screw threaded base threaded into. said inner body member, the central terminal of said screw threadedbase contacting with the outer body member.

3. In a device of theclass described axicupshaped outer member, having ajprojecting flange, an inner body member having a screw threaded central opening, lugs formed on said; inner body member and curled oversaid fi ange to holdthe two members in assembled relation, and means for" electrically insulating said outer and irmer members.

' 4. In a device of: the class described inner outer body members, axially aligned but oppo-.

sitely located lugs on said body members, means for insulating said body members from each other, and a pair ofsupporting bracket members pivotally connected to said lugs andinsulated, from each other.

5. In a headlight device for toy 'vehiclesya chassis, an inverted'U-shaped member mounted on said chassis and adapted to hold a'batteryv in.

position with respect thereto, 'a switch member comprising a, rod passing-thru said inverted U- shaped member and having an eccentric portion. thereon, an insulating sleeve carried by said rod,

the radius of the insulating 'sleeve being less-than the radius of the eccentric portion with respect'to the center of the rod. i Y

chassis, an inverted U-shaped member mounted on said chassis and adapted to hold a battery" -46: 6. In a headlight device for toyvehicles, a

rod, the radius or the insulating sleeve being less than theradius of the eccentric portion with re-f spectto the center of the rodjand a contact member surrounding said insulating sleeve, said 7. In a headlight device for I chassis, an inverted U -shaped member mounted on said chassis and adapted tohold a battery in position with respect thereto, a switch memrespect to the centerof the rod, and a contact member surrounding said insulating sleeve, said contact member being insulated from the rod.

angularly spaced from'the eccentric portion '01 said rod. 1

ALFRED C. KORTE. 

